News From the Auto Industry

“North America is now working on their (2003) business plan…they’re going to be very aggressive on cost reductions. The size of this pension will really require us to have an increase in structural cost next year for North America,” Devine said on a conference call.

The hatchback is designed with European styling cues. The trapezoidal headlight configuration and the wide open air intake grill accentuate the front end of the Astra. Sporting the Saturn emblem on its narrow grille accents the gentle slope of its hood. According to General Motors, the Astra will be available as a three-door hatchback, a five-door hatch and yet another three-door hatch but given the Sport Hatch classification.

According to General Motors, in order for the European Astra to be accepted in the United States, it has to be both attractive in appearance and very driver-friendly. The first criterion, of course, is to ensure that the Saturn Astra can attract the younger generation of car buyers. The second attribute is to makes sure that upon test driving the Astra, potential car buyers would have a hard time walking away from the car.

General Motors is reportedly trying to get its 2003 pricing agreements in place with suppliers this month, well before the usual winter-into-spring timetable it has used in the past.

According to the manufacturer of the Astra, these are built at General Motors’ assembly facility in Antwerp, Belgium. Both the three-door and the five-door hatch versions of the Astra share the same platform with a 102.9-inch wheelbase. Oddly though, the three-door hatch is longer than the five-door version by 1.5 inches. There is also a difference in ride height as the three-door hatchback is 0.6 inches lower than its sibling says General Motors.